It hasn’t always been smooth sailing for the U18 AAA Interlake Lightning boys team this year.
Coming off a seventh-place finish last season, the Lightning didn’t capture their first win until nine games into the current campaign.
With only five returning players and the rest new to the U18 Lightning, growing pains, injuries and the heightened level of competition took their toll early on.
The past few weeks, however, have been a much different story, as the Lightning have started turning the tide with a healthy lineup for the first time this season.
They had won six of their last seven contests entering last Saturday, improving to 9-22-1 on the season.
The sudden turnaround has moved the Lightning into 11th place in the 13-team Manitoba U18 AAA Hockey League, as the team is now seeing its work pay off on the scoreboard.
“I’ve seen guys get those opportunities due to injuries or guys being away or sick, and you kind of get thrust into that spotlight and it’s uncomfortable, and maybe you don’t succeed right in the moment, but it helps you for this kind of stretch that we’re in,” said head coach Brett Wur on Friday morning.
“I don’t think it was on everybody’s bingo card, the kind of record we have, and we keep stressing to the guys, ‘you’re not out of it — you’re not out of it until you’re mathematically out,’” he added. “Every day we just keep coming with a purpose, that we’re coming to get better. There are some guys that understand it, and we keep seeing some things progressing in a nice way.”
Wur is in his first season as the U18 Lightning head coach, taking over from 2024-25 bench boss Aaron Kaatz.
A local to the Interlake, Wur has coached locally with the Stonewall Jets and is also an instructor with Jets Hockey Development in Winnipeg. He has also played at the college and university levels, which has helped him relate to his players and the challenges they may face.
One challenge he has been helping them work through is developing a 200-foot game — in other words, having success in all three zones of the ice, whether with or without the puck.
For players new to the league, it is often one of the biggest adjustments at the U18 level, having previously dominated offensively as star players on their former teams.
“We can’t just worry about one end of the ice the entire time — we’ve got to be strong away from the puck,” said Wur. “That’s probably one of the biggest learning curves with some of the younger guys and guys new to the league.
“You can’t just be chasing the puck or staring at it. We have to be able to work hard at taking away options and being above the puck, and I think that was the challenge early on — understanding that next level, that next level of speed that most of the guys aren’t used to yet.”
Wur added that he has been enjoying his time with the club.
Though the Lightning remain 18 points back of the eighth and final playoff spot, their recent play has shown they are intent on making things interesting down the stretch.
They still have 16 games remaining, with their regular season wrapping up Feb. 22 in Steinbach.
